May, many of the fields are improving. Fine fescue and perennial ryegrass heading appears to be off while many of the tall fescue fields are looking pretty good. Lack of rain and temperatures less than 85 degrees will lend to excellent pollination so that should be good for seed yields. However, the production is weedier than normal due to reduced applications and reduced efficacy of the fall-applied herbicides.
Inventories in Oregon are at record highs for perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Tis will likely lead to decreases in pricing as wholesalers attempt to reduce their carrying costs. I predict Oregon companies will be moving a lot of perennial ryegrass and tall fescue seed at break-even pricing. Fine fescues and Kentucky Bluegrass will weaken to a lesser degree simply out of emotion. Fine Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass inventories will get “in balance” fairly quickly as the surpluses are smaller and production contracts are of shorter duration. In all likelihood, we will be too aggressive in acreage reduction and the market will overreact on the pricing of these two species. I anticipate there will be a buying opportunity before we see pricing swing quickly in the opposite direction.
In over-supplied markets, the clean seed ships first. If you are a high-quality buyer you need to keep this in mind when purchasing seed. Weedy seed is cheap, but for good reason.
JONATHAN GREEN, INC.
Provided by Bruce Rose, Cascade International Seed Company, and Barry Green
California has ended, and historic amounts of rain and snowfall took its place. Te snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain ranges is the largest recorded since 1969 (250 percent above average snowfall amounts). In fact, the snow is so deep that some ski resorts may stay open right through the summer.
Yet grasses are resilient, and when the weather improves, they bounce back. Tis shot shows Blue Gem in a Jonathan Green/Cascade International Seed bluegrass production field.
Tese record amounts of moisture have also affected the grass seed fields. Nearly 40 percent of tall fescue and ryegrass fields are in poor shape. According to one field man, “We are at least three weeks behind where we should be at this time of year in many grass seed fields."
Te wet field conditions meant that very few new fields were planted in the spring. Jonathan Green and its turfgrass research and production company, Cascade International Seed Company, sought to plant nearly 1,500 new acres of Black Beauty Tall Fescues going into spring. However, to date has only gotten 400 acres planted.
Rob Harris, a field man for Jonathan Green, stated, "We will keep at it to make sure that these new acres are planted even if it takes until September." Jonathan Green plans ahead to ensure that we will maintain sufficient inventories of Black Beauty varieties for our customers.
Jonathan Green reports those drought-breaking snows and rains affected the grass seed fields. Tis March 2023 photo shows a Tall Fescue production field inundated by water..
A wet and cold winter was followed by a wet and cold spring. Record rainfall and consistently cool, cloudy weather in the Willamette Valley, along with heavy snowpack in the mountains, set back grass seed production fields by weeks. If you’ve kept an eye on the weather in the West you’ve probably heard that the extended drought in
TPI Turf News July/August 2023
Jonathan Green’s demand for high-quality grass seed to sell to sod growers, lawn care operators, and independent retailers continues to grow. Other seed companies, faced with excessive grass seed inventory, pulled in their horns, and plowed out their production, in particular tall fescue fields. Jonathan Green is adding new grass seed acres. We're establishing relationships with the best grass seed growers now to ensure our future supply of the best quality grass seed varieties.
Tall Fescue - Tall Fescue of sod quality is already in limited supply. Te next crop is estimated to be only about
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